


Slytherin and Proud

by lightning_warning



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-10 22:24:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3305558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightning_warning/pseuds/lightning_warning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily Potter is finally entering her first year at Hogwarts, but the last thing she expects is to be Sorted into the infamous Slytherin house.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Platform Nine and Three Quarters

My name is Lily, like the flower on the rippling water opening its white petals to the sky, my middle name is Luna, the silver crescent glowing against the velvety black sky. Finally my last name is Potter, which means a lot in the word I live in.

Me? I live in a world of magic.

* 

I still remember September the first, two years ago, when I clung onto my father's arm while we walked down King's Cross Station, telling him I wanted to follow my brothers to school now. Of course I couldn't have, only nine years old at the time.

But here I am now, my fingers numb as I grip the trolley so hard my knuckles turn white, pushing it down the very station with the tawny brown owl in the cage staring at me with her large eyes. In front of me Albus is talking animatedly to James about his new subjects as a third year (Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes, for some reason that no one in our family yet understands) and James listening with a slightly bored expression. And then me, so silent you might've thought I was mute.

We draw curious gazes from the Muggle commuters, with our trolleys loaded with a huge trunk and most strangely of all, an owl cage. I count the numbers as we passed them-Platform three...five...seven...nine.

We stop.

As always James dashes through first, charging towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, on a seemingly reckless, head-on collision course. But he just disappears. I’m more excited than alarmed. I’ve seen it so many times already, when my mum and dad saw Teddy off, as they so often did, then later when James started going to school. Then it was Albus' turn. Finally now it’s mine.

I pass through the magical barrier with no problem, something I've been doing for years. Usually I go home after eleven o clock. This year I'll finally get onto the scarlet Hogwarts Express, puffing and billowing smoke.

"Lily!" Someone says, sounding relieved, grabbing my shoulder. It’s a voice I know well.

"Hugo!" I smile, mirroring his relief. Hugo Weasley is my favourite out of my numerous cousins, who'll be attending Hogwarts for the first time this year. He has wild brown hair but his father's eyes. Not like me. I look like my mum, down to the distinctive ginger hair.

"Hey, Lily, Albus." Hugo's older sister, a third year like Albus, waves at me as she approaches us with her parents.

"It's almost eleven, we'd better get going." Albus says, staring worriedly at the clock. James has already given mum a quick kiss and then disappeared to find his friends and to relieve himself of his trunk. "Rose, we'd better get a move on."

Rose nods. "You'll be all right, Hugo?"

"I'll be fine." Hugo waves his older sister away.

"Okay." She hugs her parents and runs off with Albus to load their trunks.

My father, Harry, was a Gryffindor like my mum and Hugo's parents. They were all involved in the war against Voldemort, especially my dad, but he says I'm not ready to know about it; the details, at least. James knows, but he won't tell me. When James is serious about it, you know not to ask questions. All I know is that it has everything to do with that distinctive lightning-shaped scar on my father's forehead.

"There's Malfoy again." Hugo's mum, Hermione, says quietly.

Malfoy. I've heard that name multiple times. I’ve met Mr Malfoy on numerous occasions. Albus complains frequently about a third year Slytherin with that name; dad and mum sometimes mention it in passing. They are the aristocrats in the wizarding world.

Dad catches Mr. Malfoy's eye-he's the tall, blonde man with the coat and pointed chin-and they nod at each other. That's practically all they ever do when they see each other. Mr. Malfoy is sometimes around our house, but it's always work, never personal.

"Lily, darling, you'd better go. You don't want to miss the train." Mum says gently. I notice that they've loaded my trunk for me.

I turn to her. "You'll write to me?"

"Of course. As often as you want." She says soothingly, hugging me. "Have fun. Make friends. Don't get into too much trouble, not like your father and your uncle... right Ron?" She looks pointedly at her brother who shrugs sheepishly. "And honey, don't worry too much about the sorting." She smiles and looks at dad. "Any house is lucky to have you."

To be honest, I hadn't considered any other houses besides Gryffindor. I mean, practically everyone I know had been or is in Gryffindor. "OK..." I whisper. I’m really going away, for months, and I won’t see them. But I’m not going to cry, not when I’m finally going to Hogwarts!

The first time I meet him is on the Hogwarts Express. Hugo and I are being led by Albus and Rose, trying to find an empty compartment, or one with familiar faces. Rose sees one that looked empty, but as we get nearer Albus' face darkens and he says in disgust, "no, it's full. Go on, Rose."

Rose frowns too and moves on. I look in as we pass and see that it isn't full; it only has three people in it. One-the one gazing at us in contempt as we walk by-looks familiar somehow. Light blonde hair, pointed chin... of course. He resembles Mr. Malfoy down to every detail. This is Scorpius Malfoy.

When Albus and Rose are hailed by some friends, it’s up to Hugo and I to find our own compartment. We’re walking down the train almost about to give up when suddenly Hugo points out an empty one. "Look, there's one."

We go in, sit and look at each other, feeling rather awkward.  _Now what?_  I think. "Um... you want to play Exploding Snap?" Hugo suggests. "Or, if you want I've got a wizard chess set in my bag."

I shake my head. Hugo’s a master at wizard chess like his dad. He trashes me every time. "Okay... then..."

"I'll read." I said, blushing a little; I’m turning down everything he suggests. Hugo looks a little disappointed but knows me well enough to not be rejected. I take out my dad's old book, one of my favourites: Quidditch through the Ages. Hugo shrugs as I thumb through the well-worn pages, looking through the pictures of the Chudley Cannons speeding through the air on their brooms.

He takes out a silver lighter I’ve seen before-the Put-Outer. It had been his dad's and before that, Albus Dumbledore's, the greatest headmaster of Hogwarts there's ever been. He was killed when my father was sixteen.

"Hugo, quit it." I say after a few moments of the lights zipping in and out of the lamps. 

He stops and stares at the Put-Outer for a while. The silence is disrupted by the sound of a cat hissing, scratching and pawing at the compartment door. "Felis?" Hugo gasps, letting the distressed cat in. Felis is Rose's cat. He is distinct muddy orange with a slightly squashed-looking face and obviously bowlegged. It is the kid of Hugo's mum's cat Crookshanks (don't ask who the mum is) and has a distinct mean streak.

Right now, though, Felis looks nothing like his usual mean self. In fact, he’s on Hugo's lap looking terribly frightened. At this point I hear Rose's voice outside, "has anyone seen Felis...?" Then she stops abruptly, just as I was about to call her. "Oh, it's you." She says, sounding annoyed. "What do you want?"

A smooth voice replies, "nothing to do with you, Rose."

Rose huffs. "Whatever. Where's my cat?"

I stand and poke my head out of the compartment. "We've got Felis, Rose."

She looks relieved. "Thank God." She pushes past the owner of the second voice and comes to reclaim Felis, who purrs in her arms. I look at the person she’d been talking to. He turns, catches my gaze and holds it for a few moments. Then Scorpius turns back around and disappears into his compartment.

*

It’s a few hours later when the Trolley Witch comes by. Between Hugo and I, we basically buy some of everything. As we sit there munching on Chocolate Frogs and swapping cards, I watch the scenery zip by.

"Lily, do you want this? It's Kingsley Shacklebolt and I already have seven of him." Hugo holds up the card of the Minister of Magic. 

"Sure." I take the card and add it to my pile. Collecting cards of the Minister of Magic gets a lot less interesting when he's round at your house for Christmas every other year. As I bite the head of my Frog off, I notice the card: HARRY POTTER. "Hey, it's my dad!"

Hugo takes a look. "Cool." He says, like he hasn’t seen the card a million times while growing up, like I have. It's still exciting whenever we get a card with someone we know on, though. And given that most of the cards in the Chocolate Frogs' new collection 'Heroes of the Second Wizarding War' bear the names and faces of people we  _do_ know, it's usually pretty exciting. James and Albus have a running competition with each other on who can finish the collection first. Mum went crazy one Christmas when they ate twenty Frogs apiece in one night trying to one-up each other. Hugo munches on his next Frog thoughtfully. "I'd love to be on a Chocolate Frog card."

"I don't know." I muse. "It'd mean everyone know who you are."

"That's cool." Hugo protests. "I mean, you'd be famous!"

I shrug. "I'm not like the Slytherins, I'm not ambitious. I'd rather stay in the shadows."

Soon it’s getting dark out and we’ve already changed to our robes. We’re trying to build a house of Exploding Snap cards which blows up in our faces just as we put the last card on.

We sit back and just stare out the window as we pull up at Hogsmeade station. Exactly as everyone had told me, the enormous figure of the Hogwarts Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, who by now is getting on in years, in his moleskin coat, holding a lamp and calling for the first years.

I feel a thrill of excitement as students begin to pour out of the train. This is it. I’m finally here. I can see the lit windows of the castle in the distance, the lights reflected on the surface of the lake where the merpeople and the giant squid-and maybe some of its offspring-reside. The lake we’re about to cross, as is tradition for the first years. The rest of the school take carriages pulled by Thestrals, skeletal black horses only visible to those who have seen death.

Hugo and I smile at Hagrid as we got to him; he knows our parents and siblings well, and he’s come around a few times. He grinned back at us, recognising my Weasley hair straightaway. 

Riding on the boat with Hugo and I are two twins, a girl and a boy who could pass for identical if the girl cut her hair. The girl introduces herself as Lianne and her brother as Drew, who is unusually quiet especially when compared to his sister. They both have dark hair, and the most amazing silver eyes I have ever seen.

"I'm Lily Potter." I say, shaking Lianne's offered hand.

She gasps. "You're Harry Potter's daughter!"

I feel my cheeks grow hot. Is this how it’s going to be all the time? Being recognised, being known, not for myself, not even for my ginger Weasley hair... but for my father and his accomplishments? "Um, yes." I say awkwardly.

"Hugo Weasley." Hugo says. 

"You're both Weasleys? Cool."

Drew is staring at me. "You're..." He shakes his head. "Drew Elsgood. I think you know my mother."

"Hm?" I look at him. He’s actually fairly handsome, with a hint of Asian features.

"Cho Chang." He says carefully.

My brows lift. Cho Chang. My dad's first crush and kiss. Girlfriend, I suppose. I know that name. I’ve heard all the stories.

He smiles when he sees my reaction. "I've got two sisters and a brother who's nine. Shay, she's a fifth year like your brother James, LiWen, she's a sixth year Ravenclaw, and Lee."

"Cool. I've got Albus and James-I'm the youngest." 

He smiles sympathetically. "So what house are you aiming for?" 

"Gryffindor, like my parents." I say without hesitation.

He nods. "Makes sense. I think Ravenclaw for me-nothing to do with my mum though."

"I'm not smart enough." I say.

He smiles faintly. "I'm sure you are." 

"Guys." Lianne says suddenly. "We're here."


	2. The Sorting

I stare at the old, worn hat on the stool. It is going to set my entire life of seven years here at Hogwarts.

I am completely lost in my own world as the As to Ds are run through. Then: "Elsgood, Drew.” The voice belongs to the old but stern-looking professor clad in emerald green robes and with spectacles perched on her nose that I know as Professor Minerva McGonagall. I perk up and stop daydreaming. Drew walks forward confidently and as the hat touches his dark hair, his gaze flickers to me. I flash him a thumbs-up a split second before the Hat shouts for the whole Hall to hear-

"RAVENCLAW!"

There is a burst of applause. I see a pretty Asian girl beaming and clapping the hardest of all. She has to be Drew's sister.

"Elsgood, Lianne."

Lianne practically skips up to the stool. She is the perkiest girl I've ever seen in my life.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hat yells. It suits her, the house that takes the good and kind. She is nice and bubbly and cheerful.

I zone out again until suddenly, much faster than I had expected: "Potter, Lily." There is some murmurings in the hall; the third and last Potter kid. My legs are numb as Hugo nudges me sharply in the back and I walk up to the stool. As I sit I searched the hall. There, Rose, Drew, Lianne, James, Albus. Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff. Gryffindor. Now that I’m actually sitting here with the Hat on my head, I am suddenly open to all those options.

I can hear a  _hmm...hmm..._  inside my head. Then the Hat opens its mouth to deliver its verdict, the result of probing my mind. It's going to be Gryffindor. It has to be Gryffindor.  I know it will be. 

"SLYTHERIN!"

_What?_

I’m frozen with shock.

Hugo's eyes are huge.

 _Did the Hat really just say what I think it did?_ I think, dumbstruck as I pull off the Hat and lay it down on the stool. I start walking slowly towards James... no. I stop myself in time. I’m not in Gryffindor. I’m  in... Slytherin. The house of snakes and dark history and everything bad I have ever known. 

I’m not even aware of where I sit. I’m actually not aware of anything until, "Weasley, Hugo.", and then the accompanying cry of "GRYFFINDOR!"

And I think,  _why not me?_

I don't notice 'Zander, Steven' being sorted into Gryffindor and I certainly don't hear the Headmaster's speech. I also don't realise the food has appeared on the table until the student sitting beside me says in a slightly irritated voice, "aren't you going to eat?" His voice sounds very familiar.

I turn around. Perfect. Just my luck. It had to be, didn't it?

"Uh, yes." I admit to Scorpius, who is frowning at me with his blonde hair falling over his eyes. I dumped whatever was within arm's reach onto my plate and started to eat. Slytherin or not, I’m starving. 

I’m aware of Scorpius' eyes still on me as I eat. Finally I say, "do you want something, Malfoy?"

His pale brows lift, then knit. "I wasn't expecting you to come here."

"Yeah, well, neither was I." I say snappishly.

He shrugs. "I thought you'd go to Gryffindor like your brothers."

"Me too." I say irritably, but my voice breaks a little. Actually it sort of rises in hysteria.

His face softens for a second. Then he turns away from me for the rest of the meal.

*

The Slytherin common room is not what I had been expecting, especially the dormitories themselves. They are just like how my mum had described the Gryffindor ones, but the quilts are patched with white and silver and different shades of green. I guess only the common room has to be intimidating.

The girl in the bed next to me looks like she was meant to be here-a deep green streak in her glossy dark brown hair, emerald eyes like a snake's, a silver snake bracelet wrapped around her wrist. Stunningly pretty, the epitome of aristocratic.  I try to recall her name from the Sorting, but I can't.

"Lily." I say, holding out my hand and then regretting it. What if she’s like every Slytherin I expect to meet, harsh and cold and intimidating?

But she isn't. She smiles, dimples and high cheekbones and all, and takes my hand. "Victoria, Victoria Mallins."

"Lily Potter."

"You're..." Her brows lift.

"Yes." I say, answering the question before she can finish it.

"That's really cool." She smiles. "I've got nothing interesting in  _my_ family."

The other girls in the room have been listening. One with a serious tan, blonde hair chopped unevenly at shoulder length, steps forward and says, "Alexandria, but please don't call me that-it's Alex."

The sporty looking but petite one with her dark hair in a neat plait and brown eyes introduces herself as Elise Cadover. 

Finally the brunette with the clear blue eyes, about my height but distinctively wiry and quick, tells us that her name is Cheryl Kayne. "I'm Muggleborn." She said.

Elise shrugs and holds up her hand. "Half blood." I’m quite surprised that among the five of us there would be so many non-purebloods. Maybe Slytherin isn't as biased as I’d thought. "Of course Lily is a pureblood." Victoria laughs lightly.

"Did you see who was sitting next to you, Lily?" Alex says.

"Scorpius Malfoy." I says shortly. "Yes."

"You... know him?"

"Not really."

Alex lapses into silence and I wonder what she thinks of Scorpius. 

*

I'm a late sleeper, am and always have been. In fact on the first day of class I sleep so late that there is only forty five minutes left before the first class starts, and I would have slept later had Victoria not shaken me awake. "Lily!" She cries. "Lily, wake up, you're going to be late!"

I jump out of bed, still in my pajamas, and pull on my robes as Victoria throws things into my bag. The Hall is nearly empty by the time we get there, and there are plenty of seats. As we sit and I pick up a slice of toast a piece of paper is waved in front of my face. "Here." Scorpius says coolly. "Your timetables." 

I look up at him and take it. "Will you  _stop_ following me?"

"I'm not."

"You certainly are." I say. "Since the train. Then the Great Hall, then today..."

"You do know I am perfectly entitled to be in every single one of those places."

"Yeah, well."

"Hi," Victoria interjects, holding out her hand. "Victoria Mallins."

Scorpius hesitates for a while, then takes her hand. "Scorpius Malfoy."

"I know." She smiles. 

Scorpius looks a bit sceptical at her cheerfulness and drops her hand. Vic remains undaunted, keeping that brilliant smile on her face, still so dazzling despite Scorpius' -admittedly rude- rejection. I wonder if she was cursed or something. He nods at me and leaves, shouldering his bag.

"Merlin's pants, he's  _everywhere."_ I mutter as I look over my timetable. "First thing today..."

"Potions." Victoria says brightly. "Double potions with-"

Please say Gryffindor, I have to see Hugo again or I am going to die...

"The Ravenclaws." She finishes. 

Drew, I immediately think. Well, that isn't too bad, I suppose. "Come on, we're going to be late." Victoria nods perkily, kind of creeping me out with her constant sunny attitude, and we make our way to the potions classroom.

Although we didn't get lost, we are still about five minutes late. "Sorry, professor-" Victoria is struck silent as she came to an abrupt halt on the stone floor. All heads turn to look at us, and I sweep the classroom for familiar faces. Yes, there’s Drew. He glances at me, then at the professor and grits his teeth, hard. He looks like he was trying not to jump up and hex the professor with everything he has.

The potions professor looks familiar, but that isn't the point. He is quite youngish, actually, maybe in his thirties, with a wave of light brown hair, stunning dark blue eyes and flawless skin. His robes are on the more expensive end, and he smiles at us in the exact same way Victoria always does. 

"Ah." He says, surveying us pleasantly. "Miss Potter, Miss Mallins. Take a seat please." 

Slowly we sit, with me trying to figure out why he looks so familiar. Then I look across at Drew again and I realise the connection. The handsome professor bears a fair bit of resemblance to Drew, the same kind of eyes, the same chin, the same careless good looks. 

"I'm Professor Elsgood." He says, gazing around at us all. _Goodness_ , I think, _he's not Drew's father, is he?_ I look over at Drew again. "I have a nephew in this class, actually."

Drew stares stonily ahead. "But no matter," he says, winking in Drew's direction, "on to Professor Slughorn's absence. He is-ah-busy, at the moment, so I will be taking the class for today. Hopefully he will be back for your next lesson."

I've heard of Professor Horace Slughorn; he'd been my father's potions teacher in his sixth year. My brothers also discussed him every now and then, but I’ve never met him in person, despite all the Order meetings I’ve secretly hung around. Thanks to my parents I've actually met a couple more professors than I'd like, including the Herbology professor, Neville Longbottom, who is one of my father's good friends. I've also met frequently the Minister for Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

I make up my mind to ask Drew why he seems so aggravated by his uncle's presence.

We breeze through the lesson-it hardly seems like a double period at all-and after that I catch up with Drew as he storms out of the classroom. "Hey!"

He stops and turns. "Oh. Hey, Lily."

"What's up with you? You've been in a proper mood all lesson."

"It's Aurum-I mean, my uncle." He says. 

"I gathered that much for myself, actually." I say, while processing this bit of information. Professor Aurum Elsgood. Doesn't  _aurum_  mean gold in Latin?

"Yeah, well, I don't like him. At all."

"Why? He seems very nice."

" _Seems."_ Drew remarks, noticing his book was poking out of his bag and stuffing it back in with vicious force. "Nothing is like it seems. He's evil. Wicked."

"Drew, are you just being paranoid?" I ask, taken aback.

"Of course not." Drew snaps. "He's after my mum's money, Lily. He's poisoning her." He adds cuttingly. I bite my lip. He must have seen my expression because his hard eyes soften. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

I shake my head. "It's all right. I shouldn't have asked."

He looks grim. "No, I'll tell you. Walk with me."

As we walk out of the dungeons Drew begins to weave a story so dark it sounds straight out of a story. Aurum had, just over a year ago, come to stay with them, claiming to have personal troubles and problems he couldn't face alone. Of course, Drew's parents let him in.

At first, he seemed like the perfect houseguest. He was always polite, always did his share of the work, always generous and nice...  _too_ nice, according to Drew. But one day, Drew came across a potion in Aurum's room, one which a little while later, he saw being tipped into a cup of tea, the colourless drop of liquid melting into the hot drink, and he had no idea what it was for until he saw Cho raise the cup to her lips and take a sip.

Not long after, Cho began to fall seriously ill. Drew began to suspect Aurum of poisoning, but he had no solid evidence and there was no way anyone would have believed his word over his uncle's. As her condition worsened, Aurum, an ex-St. Mungo's healer, tried out different antidotes and medicines, all to no avail. However, Drew noticed that the amount of the potion in his room had significantly decreased, and that with every item he claimed was a remedy, the level fell further.

Soon after Cho was admitted to St Mungo's, where she was at the present, Drew confronted Aurum about it. But Aurum threatened him to stay silent, and cast a Memory Charm on him. But it was a weak one, and now Drew was beginning to have flashes of periods of time where he recalled exactly what had happened.

"Drew," I say as he finished, " _I_ believe you."


End file.
